Harry Potter and the Sunfire Ring
by StarliteStarbrite
Summary: This is Harry's 5th year and i think its pretty good. but i am also a bit biase. well i'm starting to recover from a bad bout of writers block with this story and now i have a new chapter out. OH and as always NO STUPID LOVE TRIANGLES but even if you li
1. Owl Attack

Chapter 1: Owl Attack

The sun came up along Privet drive filtering through windows and doors. Slowly people all along the street were getting up and getting their newspapers and placing out their milk bottles. This was a perfectly normal start to a perfectly normal day on this perfectly normal street. No one would ever suspect the strange things going on behind the house at number four Privet drive.

Five owls were floating outside the window of the smallest bedroom of he house. They all had letter tied to their legs and four of them were carrying packages as well. A large snowy owl was tapping on the window trying to wake up the person inside.

Harry Potter was jostled form his sleep by the sound of his aunt Petunia tapping on the door to his cupboard. "Okay I'm up." He reached for his glasses and put them on. Then he realized that couldn't have been his aunt tapping on the cupboard door because he didn't live in the cupboard anymore. Then what could have woken him up? _Tap, tap, tap._ She sharply turned to the window where and exhausted looking owl was bobbed in and out of sight. "Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed as he threw open the window and five owls flopped through it.

Now any normal person would find this weird, five owls flying into their room at seven thirty in the morning. But Harry Potter wasn't a normal boy, in fact he was as far from normal as possible. Harry potter was a wizard, and a really good one at that. He'd been training his powers at Hogwart's school of witchcraft and wizardry for the last four years. That's where harry felt most at home. Also unlike most people harry loved school and despised summer. Cuz during the summer he was forced to live with his muggle (non-magical people) aunt, uncle and cousin. And today was Harry's fifteenth birthday.

All of the sudden a small round brown fuzz ball slammed into the side of harry's head. It was Pig a small overexcited owl belonging to harry's best friend ron. Harry grabbed pig out of the air and tried to untie the letter and package from its leg. As soon as harry had untied it , pig zoomed to the top of harry's wardrobe and perched himself there. Harry quickly untied the letters and packages from the other four owls three of which flew out the window immediately there after. Hedwig just hooted , threw a glare at pig and flew to her perch and gulped sum water.

Aside from the card and package from ron, he had one from hermione, his other best friend; sirius, his godfather; and from the looks of the untidy scrawl on the envelope the last was from Hagrid, the hogwarts game-keeper. Plus he had his official shool letter in a rather thick enevelope.

Harry opened ron's note first:

Harry,

Happy birthday. You're finally 15! Hope all's well and that the muggles aren't treating you too poorly. You're gonna come stay with us the last week before term starts again right? Dumbledore said you could that week. Herm's coming the last couple days of that week cuz she'll be in Bulgaria visiting Krum. Well, Percy got promoted cuz Mr. Crouch isn't around anymore and oh Charlie is engaged, she's real and nice and she's a wizard conselor. Well send your reply with Pig when you figure out if you can come or not.

-Ron

Harry tore open the package with the letter and a miniature version of himself fell out. The mini Harry was complete with a miniature Firebolt. He looked back at Ron's note; there was a postscript he hadn't noticed.

P.S. Check it out! You're a figurine. How neat!

_Whoa,_ Harry thought as the figurine mounted its broom and flew in circles. He put the figurine on his desk and moved on to Hermione's letter.

Harry,

Happy Birthday! How are you? I'm well. Guess what? I'm a prefect!

__

Big surprise there! Harry thought to himself.

Guess who the other prefect is? It's Neville! I know I was shocked too! But I guess Dumbledore thinks he can handle it. I'm visiting Krum next week I can't believe my parents are letting me go. I'm so excited, but I'll be late getting to the Burrow. Well I'll see you when I get to Ron's. 

-Love-

Hermione

The package from Hermione contained a large box of Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes. "Thank you Hermione you've saved me from Dudley's god awful diet!" The letter from Hagrid was short and attached to a package of rock cakes. _Maybe I could feed em to Dudley, they'd glue his mouth shut, _Harry thought with a wicked grin.

The last package was from Sirius and it contained a pocket-watch with five hands. One had his name on it and the other four had Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and Sirius written on them. Where the numbers should have been were things like Home, Work, Traveling, School, Missing, Mortal Peril, and Dead. All were currently pointed to home except Sirius' whose was at Traveling. "It's just like the Weasleys', awesome." Harry opened the letter from Sirius:

Harry,

Happy Birthday! I'm still hiding out and moony and I are doing some defense work for Dumbledore. I'm in good health and I hope you're well. I hope you like the watch I had moony get it made for me now you'll always know where I am. I'll see you at hogwarts this year, I promise.

-Snuffles

"Duddy-kins! Bweaky-fast is ready!" Aunt Petunia called up the stairs. Harry quickly got up and rushed downstairs, not wanting his wail of a cousin to scarff down his breakfast too. His unusually thick letter from Hogwarts lay unopened on his floor.


	2. The Letter From Hogwarts and Mrs. Figg

Disclaimer: I 4got this in the last chapter so J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters and sadly I do not.  
A/N: ok thanks to the people who reviewed before and I'm sorry about all those spelling errors and stuff I'll try and not do that this time.  
Chapter 2: The Letter from Hogwarts and Mrs. Figg  
  
"Morning!" Harry exclaimed as he bounded into the kitchen.  
"Why are you in such a good mood?" Uncle Vernon snapped. Uncle Vernon was a very large man with a purple face and very little neck.  
"Got a letter from Sirius today, you know my god-father," Harry replied with a slight grin on his face. Uncle Vernon blanched. "Y-you did?" he asked shakily. Harry's godfather was Sirius Black, and escaped convict. Except he really didn't commit the murders he was imprisoned for, but the Dursley's didn't know that.  
"Yup. He was just checking upon me, making sure I was happy on my birthday. By the way, can I spend next week at my friend Ron's?"  
"Next week, umm well we're vacationing in Majorca, you were gonna stay with Mrs. Figg, but I guess, IF you tell your godfather, then you could go," Uncle Vernon said still a bit shaken.  
"You guys are vacationing in Majorca? Since when? Were you planning on telling me?"  
"We don't tell you everything," Aunt Petunia said pointedly from the window. His aunt was a tall and extremely skinny woman with a very long neck that she used for spying on the neighbors.   
"Okay, when are you leaving?" Harry questioned.  
"The limo comes at 4 this afternoon. Tell your 'friend' to pick you up at Mrs. Figg's," Aunt Petunia said.  
"K," Harry said as he scampered upstairs. He sat down at his desk to write to Ron and Sirius.  
Ron-  
My uncle said I could stay with you. But you have to pick   
me up at Mrs. Figg's house. She lives about two streets over from me; the muggles are vacationing to Majorca for the week. I'll be there starting this evening.  
-Harry  
P.S. Thanks for the mini me!  
Harry walked over to his wardrobe and poked Pig awake. Pig hooted loudly and looked around. "Take this to Ron, okay?" he asked Pig as he tied the letter to his leg. Pig took off out the window. As Harry walked back to his desk to write his letter to Sirius, he stepped on a piece of parchment.  
It was his unopened Hogwarts letter. Harry picked it up and opened it. He walked back to his desk and began to read.  
Dear Mr. Potter,  
As you well very well know this letter is to inform you that term starts   
on September 1st. Please board the Hogwarts Express at 11:00 a.m. on Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station. We look forward to seeing you then.  
-Professor M. McGonnagall  
Deputy Headmistress  
P.S. A list of your supplies for next year is inclosed.  
The standard book of spells grade 5 by Miranda Goshawk  
Advanced Transfiguration By Emeric Switch  
Defensive tactics against the very dark arts By James Liteton  
Advanced Magical Drafts and Potions By Arsenius Jigger  
Upper Years Psychology By Drini Bushmear   
Upper years psychology? Thought Harry. Why would we need a psychology book? That's odd. The next sheet of paper was a note from Dumbledore to all the students:  
Dear Students,  
As you all know from my announcement at the end of last term, the Dark Lord   
Voldemort has returned. The Ministry of Magic still refuses to believe it. Our program has set up a defense to start in the fight against Lord Voldemort. We've taken extra precautions against any attacks at Hogwarts. I want you all to know that you are perfectly safe within the school grounds but all Hogsmeade visits are cancelled until further notice.  
Professor Albus Dumbledore  
Headmaster  
Yet another page was in the envelope:  
Dear Harry,  
For the remainder of the summer you're to stay at the Burrow with the Weasleys. At   
their place you don't have the protective charm that you have at your Aunt and Uncle's. So I figured we should put some extra protection on you. I'm planning on using the same charm on you that we used on your parents. I'm stopping by the Burrow tomorrow afternoon to perform the charm and I beg that you make me your secret keeper.  
Yours truly,  
Albus Dumbledore  
So Dumbledore was gonna use the same charm on him that he had used on his parents. But why would Dumbledore put such protection on him for just one week? That's odd. Oh well, Harry thought and sat down to write his letter to Sirius.  
Dear Sirius,  
Thanks for the card and watch. The watch is amazing.  
Now I'll always know where you guys are and won't ever have to worry. It's great. I have a question for you. Professor Dumbledore wants to use the charm he used on my parents to keep them safe from Voldemort, when I go to Ron's next week. Has something happened that would require extra protection for me? I'm only going to be there the week before term starts. When you write back I'll be at Ron's. I hope you're well and Buckbeak too.  
_Harry   
Harry reread the letter and decided it was okay. He rolled it up and walked to Hedwig's cage where she sat snoozing. Hedwig was a snowy white owl that had been given to Harry, by Hagrid, on his 11th birthday.  
Harry poked Hedwig awake. "Are you up for another trip?" he asked her. She drew herself up and stuck out her leg for Harry to tie on the note. "Take this to Sirius," he said as he stroked her back. She gave him an affectionate nip on the finger and flew out the window.  
Harry glanced at the clock. It was 1:30. Two and a half hours from now he'd be free of the Dursley's for another year. Harry flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Voldemort couldn't get to me at Ron's, could he? Harry thought, as the ceiling became fuzzy.  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   
"Harry!!" Uncle Vernon yelled up the stairs. "Get your lazy bum sown here right now!"  
The sound of Uncle Vernon's voice made Harry jump. He got up off his bed and glanced at the clock, it was 3:20, he must have dozed off. Harry trudged out of his room and down the stairs. "Get your stuff," Uncle Vernon barked, "you're leaving in ten minutes."  
"I need my trunk. You've still got it locked under the stairs," Harry stated. The Dursley's hated anything magical, so they locked all of Harry's things away in the cupboard under the stairs so he couldn't do anything even remotely magical all summer.  
Uncle Vernon just grunted in response and walked into the kitchen.  
Ten minutes later Harry had all of his things in his trunk and Hedwig's empty cage in the trunk of Uncle Vernon's car. They drove in silence over to Mrs. Figg's house.  
Mrs. Figg is the old lady who watches Harry every time the Dursley's leave. She's rather old and quite fond of her cats. Her husband died a long time ago.  
Uncle Vernon dropped Harry at the curb and popped the trunk of his car. Harry heaved his trunk out of the car and Uncle Vernon sped away. Harry was left to drag his huge trunk up to the door alone. Once he got there he rang the bell.  
"Hello Harry!" said Mrs. Figg as she opened the door. "So you're only staying the night huh?"  
"Uh, yes," Harry replied as Mrs. Figg helped him carry his trunk inside. "Well no sense in lugging this around the house then," she said setting down Harry's trunk.  
"I guess not," Harry said dropping the other end of his trunk, "um Mrs. Figg, how exactly did you know I was only staying the night?"  
"I spoke to Arthur Weasley about twenty minutes ago and he informed me you were staying at the Burrow with them next week."  
"You know Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked incredulously. "How?"  
"Well my husband and I used to work with him at the ministry and with Dumbledore."  
It was like a light bulb went on in Harry's head. "You're Arabella Figg. Dumbledore mentioned your name at the end of last year, as part of the 'old crowd'. So you, you knew my parents?"  
"Yes I knew your parents. They were wonderful, wonderful people," she replied smiling. The rest of Harry's evening went really well. He had hotdogs and macaroni and cheese for dinner. Afterward, Mrs. Figg told him storied about his parents instead of the usual cat stories. Then at around 11:30 she sent him to bed.  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
The next morning Harry was awaken by the smell of bacon frying and pancakes cooking. Oh a real breakfast, Harry thought. With Dudley's diet still in effect Harry's breakfasts this summer had usually consisted of a slice of grapefruit or half a banana. Thankful for the real food he walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.  
"Morning," Mrs. Figg said cheerfully, "The Weasleys are coming for you at 11." Harry glanced at the clock it was 10:30. Half an hour and he'd be back where he belonged.  
"Morning," he muttered in reply. He hungrily ate all the food placed in front of him. By the time he was done eating he felt about Dudley's size, and it was ten minutes until 11:00. Harry had to run and change and get ready to leave.  
  
A/N: Oke doke the third chapter will probably be up within a week or so but until then please review!!  
  



	3. Back to the Burrow

A/N: ok well I'm just now realizing that I left out basically the whole month of august cuz Harry says he's only staying the week at the burrow on his birthday which is July 31 so you'll just have to overlook the fact that I think there is only one week

A/N: ok well I'm just now realizing that I left out basically the whole month of august cuz Harry says he's only staying the week at the burrow on his birthday which is July 31 so you'll just have to overlook the fact that I think there is only one week between July 31 and September 1! Thanks

Chapter 3: Back to the Burrow

With two minutes to spare Harry ran into the living room and flopped down on the couch. He expected they'd be coming by Floo powder, like they did last year. Especially if Mrs. Figg was a witch.

Precisely at 11o'clock Mr. Weasley stepped through the fireplace. Mrs. Figg didn't seem even remotely surprised in fact her face lit up.

"Arthur!" she squealed and embraced him in a big hug. "It's been too long!"

"Arabella! Yes it has how have you been?" Mr. Weasley replied warmly.

Their greeting was interrupted as Ron fell out of the fireplace coughing and sputtering. Harry rushed over to him and helped him up. "I (cough) I inhaled some soot! (Cough, cough) No offense but you really should clean that out some time," Ron choked out. Mrs. Figg just laughed as she walked over and hugged Ron too. "You're so big," she said, "last time I saw you, you were a year old and about knee height. And you two," she said as she spun around on Fred and George, Ron's twin brothers, who had been sneaking up on her, "you two were not much bigger, and you were always chasing everyone and everything around, I head you're both excellent beaters on the Gryffindor team now, huh?" She gave the two of them a big bear hug too.

"Would you like some tea?" Arabella asked turning back to Mr. Weasley.

"I'd love some," he replied and their voices trailed off into the kitchen.

"I've got to show you my gift from Sirius!" Harry exclaimed to Ron and the twins. "Check it out!" he said as he pulled the watch from his pocket.

"Whoa, it's just like our clock at home!" Ron breathed.

"Brilliant observation, genius," George, or was it Fred, retorted.

"Shut up!" Ron snapped back.

"It's awesome!" Harry stated as he dropped it back into his pocket. "So Charlie's engaged? Who is she?"

"Her name is Annette Waterfield and Charlie met her in Egypt when we were visiting Bill a couple of summers ago," Ron stated, "She's great!"

"And hot! Oy Harry, it's too bad that you couldn't keep up with our world this summer you missed an amazing quidditch game," Fred said as they sat on the couch. That launched the four of them into a heated discussion about quidditch, the wizard sport played with four balls fifty feet in the air on broomsticks. 20 minutes later Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Figg came back into the living room.

"We'd best be going," Mr. Weasley started, "Molly is expecting us back. It was nice seeing you again Arabella, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of you in the next couple of years with recent events and all."

"I'm sure you will," Arabella replied, "and boys, you all have a nice term, be careful, and kick some slytherin butt for me ok?"

"Don't worry!" Fred started.

"We will!" George finished.

Mr. Weasley took a bag from his pocket and threw some of its contents into the fireplace. "Fred, George, you got Harry's trunk? Alright you go on first." 

They heaved Harry's trunk into the emerald flames and stepped in themselves. "The Burrow!" they shouted together and vanished. Harry and Ron went next. "Good-bye and thanks Mrs. Figg!" Harry yelled as he stepped into the green fire. "The Burrow!" he shouted. Suddenly he was sucked away in a cloud of soot. All he saw for a couple of minutes was glimpses of living room as he spun quickly around and round. Then, he landed hard on the stone floor of the fireplace at the Burrow.

Harry had barely stood up when Mrs. Weasley had him wrapped in a huge hug. "Hello dear, welcome back!" she squealed to Harry.

Mrs. Weasley practically dragged Harry into the kitchen and sat him down at the table. She started piling food in front of him and wouldn't hear it that he'd just eaten and wasn't hungry.

So after much (ignored) protest he ate some more. Just as he was finishing his third pancake Charlie walked into the kitchen with a short brunette woman at his side.

"Hi," she said cheerfully, "you must be Harry. I've heard so much about you, I mean aside from all the You-Know-Who stuff, but other stuff from Ron and Ginny and the twins. Yeah, I'm Annette Waterfield." She stuck out her hand for Harry to shake.

"Hi," Harry replied and shook her hand.

"How are you Harry, I mean since the last time I saw you. How are you getting along with, you know, everything?" Charlie asked.

"I'm fine, really," Harry lied. In fact Harry was not ok. He was the one responsible for the downfall of the most powerful dark sorcerer ever, Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had some to his home at Godric's Hollow and killed Harry's parents. He tried to kill Harry too but his spell backfired and he was basically destroyed, but all that had happened when Harry was just a baby. And now after the terrifying events of last year Harry was not dealing well. He kept having horrible nightmares reliving that fateful night last term. He kept hearing Voldemort's cold voice saying "Kill the extra," and seeing Cedric fall over dead at his feet and he kept hearing the high, cold, cruel laugh. He kept seeing Voldemort rising from that cauldron when he had been reborn. He half expected Voldemort to be waiting for him every morning when he woke up.

"Well it was nice to meet you," Harry said as he spotted Ron in the doorway. He got up and practically ran out of the kitchen not wanting to discuss the last year's painful events.

"So I guess you've heard that Dumbledore's coming. He says he's got to put some kinda protection on you while you're here," Ron said to Harry as they headed upstairs to Ron's room.

"Yeah he told me that too. You know the spell that they used on my parents to hide them from Voldemort?" Harry asked. Ron nodded but cringed at Voldemort's name, most wizards feared even his name and never said it. "Yeah well Dumbledore wants to use it on me too."

"Wow," was all that Ron could say.

At around 4:30 Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs for Harry and Ron to come down.

"Hello Harry, Ronald," Albus Dumbledore said as the boys clambered down the stairs. Albus Dumbledore was a very old man with a very long and silvery beard and hair. (He could tuck both into his belt if he so desired!) He also wore half moon spectacles that stood in front of fiery blue eyes.

"Hello Professor," they chorused back.

"I won't be staying long. Just enough to perform this spell, then I'll be going back. So Harry are you ready?"

"Sure," Harry replied. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and gave Harry instructions on what he had to do. Dumbledore was going to say the words _Secretus Totalus _(I know that was a bit uncreative but that's ok) and Harry had to whisper where he was staying into Dumbledore's ear, in this case the Burrow.

Dumbledore stood back and pointed his wand at Harry. He waved his wrist and said "_Secretus Totalus!_" Harry walked over to Dumbledore and whispered "The Burrow" into his ear.

"Okay I'm pretty sure it worked," Dumbledore announced to everyone there. "And now I must be going. I have business to attend to for 'The Order'. Thank you for allowing me to come here Molly, Arthur. And I'll see you five on September 1st."

"Oh you're always welcome here," Mrs. Weasley said warmly. Dumbledore smiled at everyone and Disapparated.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

The next few days were fairly normal. They didn't see much of Percy or Mr. Weasley, Harry suspected they had been working a lot at the Ministry. The rest of them spent the days practicing quidditch in the grove behind the Burrow, and the nights playing Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess. Some nights discussing quidditch and other nights discussing what they thought Voldemort was planning. Ron and the twins had to fill Harry in on the events that had been happening that summer. It seems Voldemort had waited a few weeks before doing anything. His first attack was on the Leifmans, a prominent wizarding family. Mr. Leifman had been an Auror and was responsible for the capture of several of Voldemort's deatheaters.

The beginning of the week flew by and soon it was Thursday, the day that Hermione was coming. She was already at the house when Harry and Ron came downstairs for breakfast that morning. "Harry, Ron!" she squealed as she ran over and hugged them both.

"Hi Hermione," they said as the awkwardly hugged her back. Hermione looked great. Her hair had settled down a bit, it wasn't quite so frizzy and now that her teeth were of normal size her face seemed prettier too. She also had grown a couple of inches and was actually quite pretty. (Sorry I couldn't resist! I love Herm and I was so sick of her being Ms. Frizz I had to make her pretty!)

"Eat up boys we're going to Diagon Ally today!" Mrs. Weasley said to them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

An hour later Harry, Hermione, seven Weaselys, and Annette were congregated around the living room coffee table waiting as Mr. Weasley conjured a fire in the fireplace.

"Okay we're travelling by Floo Powder since not all of us can Apparate yet," he said to them. "Molly why don't you go first?"

Mrs. Weasley took a pinch of Floo Powder from the flowerpot on the mantle. She threw it into the fire and instantly the flames jumped and turned bright green. She stepped into the flames and yelled "Diagon Ally!" Fred and George went next each in turn doing the same thing that their mother did.

"Harry why don't you go next?" Mr. Weasley said. Harry got up and walked over to the fireplace. He took some Floo Powder from the pot and threw it into the flames, which for a fourth time turned emerald green. Harry took a deep breath remembering what had happened last time he had tried to get to Diagon Ally by Floo powder. He had ended up in Knockturn Ally a not very pleasant place when you're twelve and alone. Harry shook the thought out of his mind and stepped into the flames. "Diagon Ally!" he shouted.


	4. Home Sweet Home

A/N: Ok this chapter is kinda just an add in and I've recently discovered (thanks to one of my reviewers) that the charm with the secret keeper is called the fidelius charm and I couldn't remember the name before so yah

A/N: Ok this chapter is kinda just an add in and I've recently discovered (thanks to one of my reviewers) that the charm with the secret keeper is called the fidelius charm and I couldn't remember the name before so yah. Oh and I apologize in advance for my TERRIBLE sorting hat song because I'm a terrible poet! This story will get more exciting eventually I promise! In the meantime read and review pleeeeeze!

Thanks

***StarliteStarbrite***

Chapter 4

Home Sweet Home

Harry coughed as he stepped out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, a small grungy wizard's pub that conceals the entrance to Diagon Alley. Harry brushed the soot off of himself and jumped forward as Hermione banged into the back of him. "Ow," he started.

"Oof!" Hermione said rubbing her elbow gingerly. "I hit my elbow on something I'm not really sure what."

Once the rest of the Weasleys and Annette made it through the fireplace they all trooped outside to the back of the Leaky Cauldron. Mrs. Weasley took out her wand and tapped the third brick on the left above the trashcan. The stone wall suddenly opened up into a giant archway. A small iron sign hanging above the entranceway read DIAGON ALLEY.

The group's first stop was Gringott's Wizard Bank. Gringott's was a large white building with miles of underground vaults, and it was also run by goblins. Harry always felt bad when the Weasley's vault was opened, they were the nicest family you'd ever meet but they were also very poor, there was usually very little in their vault. But, Harry felt ten times worse when his vault was opened. His vault was full of piles of gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. Harry's parents had left him a small fortune when they died.

When they finally escaped the underground rollercoaster of Gringott's Harry, Ron, and Hermione were looking at a free day full of shopping. The group decided to meet back at the Leaky Cauldron for a quick dinner at six.

Ron, Hermione, and Harry bustled along the street buying all their school stuff. They went into Flourish and Blott's to buy all their books, Madam Malkins for new robes, and they visisted the Apothecary to refill their stock of potion ingredients. And, when Hermione was in Parkinson's Perfect Potions for Haircare Ron slipped back into Flourish and Blott's to buy Hermione a birthday present. 

Harry wandered next-door to Damsel's Diamonds, a jewelry store. He wandered around looking at all the necklaces, bracelets, and rings. A shockingly blue stone on a silver chain caught his eye. The stone looked like it had a drop of water encased inside of it. "You like?" asked a short Asian looking wizard.

"Yes, it's gorgeous, how much is it?" Harry replied.

"For Harry Potter I make special price only 5 galleons 7 sickles," the store-keeper replied. Harry considered it for a minute, that was an awful lot for a necklace, but Hermione was one of his best friends and she had been for like 4 years now. He made up is mind. "I'll take it," he replied. 

Five minutes later Harry was back out in the bright sunshine. He found Ron outside of Parkinson's Perfect Potion etc. "She's been in there for ages!" he complained, "Did you get her something?" 

"Yah," Harry replied, "I found this awesome necklace next door!"

"Lemme see," Ron said just as Hermione walked out of the store.

"Later," Harry replied. The rest of the day went rather well. They spent the day looking in other random wizard shops. Ron and Harry spent twenty whole minutes inside Quality Quidditch Supplies oggling over the latest broomstick. By the makers of the Firebolt, were new Lightening Bolts, slimmer handle and tail making for a more aerodynamic shape. The day was really pleasant with only one minor run-in with a terrified looking Draco Malfoy who sneered a nasty comment at them and then ran off.

"Wonder what he was so scared of," Ron said grinning.

At five minutes until 6 the three of them trudged back to the Leaky Cauldron heavily laden down with packages.

"Oy Ron!" Fred called out as soon as they walked through the door. Fred threw a package at Ron. "Compliments of me an' George. So you don't embarrass us at any dances this year." Ron tore open the package and unfolded a nice set of black velvet dress robes with satin trim.

"Whoa, thanks," Ron said to the two of them.

"Yeah those are really nice!" Hermione beamed, "How on earth did you two buy these?" she asked turning to the twins. "We suddenly came across a lot of money!" George said as he winked at Harry. Hermione eyed them suspiciously, but she didn't persue it further.

After a nice five-course dinner where they all learned a little bit more about Annette (she's 25 and works in the Wizadry Relations department at the Ministry of Magic) they headed back through the fireplace to the Burrow and straight to bed.

* * *

The last two days at the Burrow were some of the greatest for Harry. Mrs. Figg stopped by for lunch one day and the next day Charlie and Annette announced that they'd set the date for their wedding, December 20th. That seemed rather soon for a wedding, but Hermione reminded him that wizard weddings were probably nothing like muggle weddings and they probably took a lot less time to plan.

All to soon their trunks were packed up and loaded into the ministry cars that Mr. Weasley had borrowed. Charlie was coming to the station to see them off but Annette said she had someplace else to be but would be seeing them soon. "She does have a wedding to plan," Ginny said matter-of-factly. 

They arrived at King's Cross Station with 10 minutes to spare. Mr. Weasley hustled them through the barrier in threes and fours. At once they had all walked through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 and onto Platform 9 ¾. They heaved their trunks into an empty compartment. Mrs. Weasley embraced each one of them for rather longer than usual. "You all be careful this year!" she called out to them her eyes glistening as they clambered onto the train. "I don't want any owls saying you've been blown to pieces!" she called as the train started to move.

"I'll see you all in December!" Charlie yelled after them. Harry watched them as the train pulled away gathering speed. One second they were little dots then the next they disappeared.

"Do you believe this is our last train ride to Hogwarts?" Fred asked George incredulously. Harry was surprised by the amount of sadness in Fred's voice. But he figured that he would be sad to, Hogwarts was an amazing place.

"Just enjoy your last year here ok?" Came Ginny's soothing voice as she hugged her brothers.

The boys settled down to play a rather noisy game of Exploding Snap, and Hermione and Ginny wandered off down the corridor.

When the witch with the lunch cart came by the girls still hadn't returned. Around 3:30 they finally strolled back in whispering and giggling.

"Where have you guys been?" Ron asked anxiously.

"Well we went to change," Harry noticed they were both wearing their black Hogwarts robes already, Hermione's had a shiny badge with the letter P on it.

"And we got caught up talking to Lavender Brown. Seems she and Seamus kinda hooked u over the summer and she was just bursting to tell someone!" Ginny giggled.

"Well you gave us a fright, you'd been gone for so long . . ." Ron sighed.

"Oh chill out!" Ginny snapped, "You're starting to sound like Percy!" Ron took this as a personal insult and clamped his mouth shut. But Ginny was right, Harry thought, Ron did sound a bit like Percy.

Just at that moment the compartment door slid open and in walked Neville Longbottom, a rather accident-prone Gryffindor 5th year. "Hullo!" he said cheerfully.

"Hey."

"Howdy."

"Hi."

Neville too was already wearing his black Hogwarts robes and he too had a silver Prefect badge on.

"Look I'm the other Gryffindor prefect," he said pointing to his badge, "Professor Sprout nominated me because I always do so well in her class and Dumbledore thought it'd give me a confidence boost. I was so excited and shocked when I got my letter and badge, and my gran was so proud she bought me an owl!" Neville gushed.

"Wow, Neville that's great!" Harry said.

"Yeah that's awesome!" Ginny said.

"That's ludicrous!" Came the cold drawl of Draco Malfoy, an albino Slytherin 5th year with a pointy face. Malfoy had picked that exact moment to come strolling into their compartment, as usual flanked by his oversized cronies Crabbe and Goyle.

"Ooh, a big word from such a small brain!" Fred cracked. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys cracked up, Crabbe and Goyle looked confused like they didn't get it, and Malfoy just glared at them all.

"Shut up Weasley, don't even get me started on you and your family," Malfoy said menacingly. All at once Harry and Ginny had drawn their wands, and Ron had tried to launch himself at Malfoy but Hermione grabbed the back of his shirt. Neville swelled up a bit and swallowed hard a determined look on his face.

"Malfoy, get out. Don't go making trouble before term even starts, or I'll be forced to-to report you!" Neville looked a bit startled with himself and everyone else stood gaping at him.

"Yeah, okay Longbottom," Malfoy said sarcastically. "There's already gonna be trouble this term, and you all will be the first to go. Especially you Potter," he sneered. 

"And you'd know that how? Did the Dark Lord come and have coffee with your Daddy this summer?" Harry asked mockingly.

"Yeah, is that why you looked like a scared little mouse in Diagon Alley?" That one came from Hermione.

"Y-you don't know what you're talking about," Malfoy stammered quite shakily. A look of pure terror flashed across his eyes.

"Get out!" Hermione barked at him. Malfoy took one final look at the people in the compartment, turned on his heals, and left with Crabbe and Goyle following after him.

The next few minutes were spent making fun of Malfoy, but that conversation eventually lost interest and the compartment became eerily silent. All of them were remembering that Voldemort _had _returned, and wondering what he was planning.

"How 'bout a game of chess?" Ron asked Harry breaking the awkward silence. The last couple of hours on the Hogwarts Express were quite fun. They changed into their robes and continued talking and playing chess and Exploding Snap.

When the train finally reached the station they all stepped out into a warm September night. "Firs' years! Thisa way, follow me! Alrigh' there Harry, Hermione, Weasleys?" The all smiled up into the small eyes of the Hogwarts grounds keeper, Hagrid. Hagrid was a huge man (he's half giant) with massive amounts of tangled hair and beard.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny climbed into a carriage and waited for it to set off towards the castle. Nobody said anything the whole of the short trip. When they reached the castle they scrambled out of the carriage and into the crowd trying to get through the massive oak doors. As Harry made his way through the entrance hall and into the Great Hall he looked up at the ceiling. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and tonight it was a velvety black dotted with diamond-like stars. Harry couldn't help but feel safe here. No one could get him while he was at Hogwarts under the care of Albus Dumbledore. He was finally at the castle, finally at home, he thought as he took a seat at the Gryffindor table and waited for the feast to begin. He looked up towards the staff table as a line of scared looking first years walked in. Professor McGonnagall followed carrying a stool and a tattered looking wizard's hat. The whole hall sat staring at the hat. Suddenly it stirred and a rip near the bottom opened like a mouth, and it began to sing.

__

A thousand years, about, ago

This school was made by four

To teach to children magic was

What they truly did adore.

In students each they valued

Different traits to posses

They picked out the ones they liked

And ones that passed their tests.

See Slytherin liked those with ambition

And Gryffindor loved braveness

Sweet Hufflepuff liked those who worked

And Ravenclaw valued cleverness.

So slap me on your head

I'll look inside and have a peek

To tell each founder if you

Are one that they do seek.

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. A somewhat relieved look washed over some of the first years. Others looked just as queasy as they had before. Harry remembered how nervous he'd been at his sorting especially when the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin. So Harry felt sympathetic towards all those scared first years.

"That was really short," Ron whispered to Harry as Professor McGonnagall started to read off the names of the first years.

"I guess he didn't feel very creative this year," Harry whispered back.

All the students watched as each of the first years in turn stepped forward, sat on the stool, and placed the hat on their head. The hat then yelled out which house you were best suited for (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin). When all of the first years had been sorted (Gryffindor had gained six new students) Professor McGonnagall picked up the hat and stool and carried them out of the hall. Professor Dumbledore then stood to address his students. As soon as he stood a hush fell over the hall.

"Welcome to a new school year, I trust that you've all emptied your heads quite nicely this summer." He said smiling. Then a very serious look fell over his face, "And I'm sure you all remember my announcement at the end of last term. So in light of that the Forbidden Forest is of course forbidden and I hope you all take extreme heed of this rule because I have instated EXTREMELY severe punishments for anyone who breaks that rule. Also I would like to introduce two new staff members to you . . ."


	5. Sirius

A/N: ok so I ended the last chapter on kind of a cliffie and I've made you all wait forever for the next chapter so here's chapter 5 and chapter 6 should be up too

A/N: ok so I ended the last chapter on kind of a cliffie and I've made you all wait forever for the next chapter so here's chapter 5 and chapter 6 should be up too! Read, Enjoy, and Review!

Thanks!

***StarliteStarbrite***

Chapter 5

Sirius

"First off please welcome our new defense against the dark arts teacher, Professor Figg."

Harry's jaw dropped. Mrs. Figg was their new teacher? But it did make sense. She had said that she and her husband had worked for the ministry, maybe she used to be an Auror. Mrs. Figg stood up and waved, smiling at the polite applause she was receiving.

"And I think our second new professor would like to introduce herself." A short woman with shoulder length curly brown hair stood up. It was Annette Waterfield, Charlie Weasley's fiancé. The hall politely clapped for her too. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys clapped the loudest.

Annette cleared her throat and began, "Hi! Actually I'm not a professor, I'm a doctor. I usually work in the Wizardry Relations department at the ministry. I'm here because I know some of you might have a hard time dealing with the events that have recently occurred with the Dark Lord's return and all. Um, you will all have bimonthly sessions with me and if you ever just need to talk I'm here. Thanks." She sat down. Most of the hall watched in silence. Harry looked around a bunch of people had relieved looks on their faces. Harry personally didn't want to discuss anything with Annette. He didn't want to have to relive any of the events anymore! A few of the Slytherins sniggered as Annette sat back down. Suddenly the plates and goblets filled before them. They all then realized how hungry they were and dug into the food in front of them.

After the whole hall had had their fill they all started out and up to bed. Hermione rounded up the 1st years and took them up to Gryffindor tower. Ron and Harry walked sluggishly behind. When they finally made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady that guards the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, there was already a group of students filing through the portrait hole. Ron and Harry climbed into the common room and up the stairs to the circular dorm room that read '5th Years'. Their trunks had been brought up to the room and placed at the foot of their familiar four poster beds. They changed into their pajamas and fell into bed.

* * *

A tall man sat in a high throne in the middle of a dark area. Large trees loomed up on all sides of him blocking all outside light from the clearing. The only light was from a small fire to the side of the throne. The man's wide, blood red, eyes reflected the slowly flickering flames.

"Yes my lord, you called?" a small cloaked figured had scurried into the clearing. He scuttled right up to the other, bent down, and kissed the hem of the seated man's robes.

"Yes, Wormtail. I've been thinking. I've been going about this all wrong . . ." the tall man spoke.

"How so my Lord?" the shorter man, called Wormtail, asked.

Before Wormtail could say anything else the tall man pointed his wand at Wormtail and muttered "_Crucio!_" Wormtail fell into a heap on the ground screaming and twitching. A moment of so later the tall man withdrew his wand. Wormtail slowly got to his feet and said "Forgive me my Lord."

"Do not interrupt. As I was saying, I'm going about this all wrong. I need to take this one step at a time. Capturing that wretched Potter boy will have to wait. My first step is to prevent something like that Halloween 14 years ago from ever happening again." The man paused and turned his cold eyes upon Wormtail expectantly.

"Wh-What do you mean my Lord?" he stuttered trembling still.

"I must become immortal you fool," he spat. "And I suppose you don't know what I'll be needing then? Oh course you don't you incompetant fool!" he gave a disgusted look to Wormtail. "I need control of the elements, the carriers, I need the carriers to complete the spell. I need you to find me the elemental carriers. All four of them."

"Yes my Lord," Wormtail breathed as he backed into the shadows.

The shadows took over Harry's mind as the dream ended. He would wake the next morning and not remember a thing.

* * *

Harry walked down to breakfast late the nest morning. He plopped sown into the chair next to Ron and a short 2nd year he'd never talked to before. Just as Harry was reaching for the bacon Professor McGonnagall walked by dropping course schedules in front of students.

"Hey, we've got Defense Against the Dark Arts 1st thing this morning!" Ron exclaimed, "I wonder how Mrs. Figg will be."

"Yeah but look, we've got Divination this afternoon," Harry said glumly, "What a great way to end Mondays!"

"If you two hate that class so much why do you continue to take it? It's never gonna help you in life unless you wanna turn into an old bat like Professor Trelawney and work in a circus!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry laughed while Ron looking confused asked, "What's a circus?" Harry just laughed harder.

Hermione suppressed a giggle and said, "It's a kind of traveling freak show that muggles go to for entertainment."

"Oh."

Twenty minutes later the 3 of them were trooping down a corridor to their Defense classroom. They walked inside and took 3 seats in the middle of the room. Just as the bell rang Professor Figg walked in. "Good morning class! I'm Professor Figg, but you only need call me that around other teachers. In here, we're all equal so call me Bell please. My actual name is Arabella." Bell took role and glanced up at every student as they call out "here!"

"Alright," she said as she rolled up the parchment with the list of names, "go ahead and put your books away. Today we're just gonna talk. Professor Lupin informed me that you all have a very good understanding of evil creatures, and Dumbledore tells me you were learned extensively of curses last year. So my job this year is to teach you guys what it was like during Voldemort's rise to power," most of the class flinched at the name. She continued, "and teach you how to better protect yourself against it. I know this is going to be a difficult subject for some of you," she glanced pointedly at Harry and Neville, "because some of you have suffered great losses. I myself lost my husband and my brother to the fight against the Dark Lord."

The whole class sat stunned. Harry was holding back the sad thoughts that were fighting their way into his head. _This is gonna be a long year_, he thought. 

The rest of class was spent getting to know Bell. She told of her job at the ministry and how she'd retired after her husband died. She also told of her many cats and her dog, Snuffles.

"She has a dog named Snuffles?" Ron asked incredulously to Harry. "You don't think that it's --- OW!" he exclaimed as Hermione kicked him under the desk.

Just then the bell rang. "Harry! Can I speak with you a moment?" Bell called out as the class started filing toward the door. Harry stopped and turned.

"D'you want us to wait?" Hermione asked him.

"Nah. Go on I'll meet you at lunch," he replied. Ron shrugged as he and Hermione started down to lunch. Harry walked back to Bell's desk. "You wanted to talk to me?" he said.

"Yes, well first off, I know this class in gonna be particularly hard for you this year, we'll be discussing your parents on multiple occasions. They were a big help to the resistance movements, and if you're ever uncomfortable during one of our discussions feel free to leave," she said sympathetically.

"I'll be fine," Harry replied firmly. Harry would be glad to hear about his parents. He wanted to know everything he could about them, even if it was a bit painful. "And second?" he asked.

"Yes I'm sure you know my dog Snuffles!" she said with a small smile on her face. "And I know he's itching to speak with you. So why don't you come back here after dinner and you two can talk in private for a while. Sound good?"

A smile spread across Harry's face. Snuffles was the code name for Sirius, Harry's godfather, when he was in dog form. After thanking Bell and saying he'd hurry back right after dinner Harry headed down to lunch looking forward to that evening.

* * *

The rest of Harry's afternoon was great. He even got through Professor Trelawney's death prediction without too much complaining. As soon as Harry finished dinner he rushed up to the Defense classroom. Ron and Hermione had wanted to come and talk to Sirius too, but Harry had refused. He wanted to talk with Sirius alone. 

Harry knocked tentatively on the door. Bell stuck her head out and let Harry into her classroom. A black dog as large as a bear sat on the floor next to her desk. "I'll just be going now!" Bell said as she walked out the door. Harry turned to the door as she left and he heard the lock click. When he turned back to the room the dog had transformed into a man. He had short black hair and he had filled out since Harry had last seen him; probably because he wasn't living off of rats anymore. A side smile spread across his face as he wrapped Harry in a hug.

"Hey kiddo, how was your summer?" Sirius asked Harry as he hopped up on Bell's desk.

"It was fine, I mean, as fine as it can be living with the Dursleys," Harry replied.

"Harry, I'm so sorry you have to put up with them. I mean if only that weasel hadn't've gotten away!" He slammed his fist on the desk as he said that last part. Harry knew exactly what Sirius was talking about. At the end of Harry's third year Peter Pettigrew, the person who actually committed the crime Sirius had been imprisoned for, had gotten away before they could turn him in and clear Sirius' name.

"Yeah well enough on that depressing subject. How have you been? I've barely heard from you all summer," Harry said grinning.

Sirius launched into the story about how he and Remus Lupin went around the country gathering up the "old crowd" and letting them know about Voldemort's return and the need for the resistance again. It was an exciting story filled with narrow misses by muggle dogcatchers and stuff of that sort.

The two of them sat talking for a long time, well into the darkness that crept in from over the forest. They only left when Bell cam and knocked on the door. "You guys," she said as she stuck her head in, "it's after midnight and Harry you've got classes tomorrow. Go to bed."

"Yeah kiddo, she's right I didn't realize how late it was. Get up to bed," Sirius said smiling at Harry.

Harry said good-bye to Sirius and Bell and just as he was about to wlak ou the door Sirius stopped him. "I have something for you, I almost forgot!" he called to Harry. He took something out of his pocket and walked over to Harry. He placed a small silver ring in Harry's hand. It had carvings of small flames etched into it that seemed like real fire. "Wow, thanks. It's amazing!" Harry said.

"It was your mother's. She'd want you to have it," Sirius replied.

"Thanks, well, g'nite!" Harry said as he walked out the door of the classroom shutting it gently behind him.

He turned the ring over and over in his hands examining it the whole way back to Gryffindor tower.


	6. Quidditch Trials

A/N: Ok so Chapter 5 was short this one is a bit longer

A/N: Ok so Chapter 5 was short this one is a bit longer. I think. Sorry I don't explain Hogsmeade more but then this chapter would be REALLY long so yeah! But I'm sure Hermione's birthday is September 19th cuz J.K. Rowling said that in and interview. So here's Chapter 6. Read, Enjoy, and Review!

Luv,

***StarliteStarbrite***

Chapter 6

Quidditch Trials

Harry lay awake for hours that night. Now he had stuff from both of his parents; he had his father's old Invisibility cloak and now he had a ring from his mother. Thoughts of his parents and what they were like ran through Harry's head as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next few weeks were really busy for the 5th years. The teacher's seemed to think that they needed to start cramming for the O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Level) tests as soon as possible. Before they knew it they'd already been at Hogwarts for almost 3 weeks.

On the 19th Hermione strolled into the common room with a large smile on her face. "Guess what today is!" she said in a singsong sort of voice.

"What? It's Saturday, nothing special about that," Harry said feigning a look of bewilderment. Hermione's smile faded and her face fell a little bit. "You seriously don't know?" she asked quietly.

Harry's face broke into a grin, "You're too easy!" he said as he pulled a mall box out from behind his back. "Happy Birthday! Hey you're old enough to get your driver's license!" he said.

"Yup, thanks! But a lot of good a driver's license is, I mean I'm here all year and there are so many other interesting ways to travel. I got this one book at the library, _From Here to There, _it's got all the different ways to travel. I mean there are broomsticks, Floo Powder, Apparition . . ."

"Herm! HERM! Just open your present!" Harry cut in.

"Oh yes!" she replied turning her attention to the small box in her hands. She carefully untied the silver ribbon and tore off the purple paper. She opened the box and gasped. "Oh Harry it's gorgeous!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you!" Hermione gently took the necklace out of the box and put it around her neck. She walked over to a mirror hanging on the wall and examined her reflection. "It looks like someone caught a raindrop and strung it on a necklace," she breathed.

"Hey Hermi!" a voice called from across the room. Harry turned to see Ron walking across the common room to where they were standing. "Happy Birthday!" he said to Hermione as he reached the two of them. Ron handed Hermione a small rectangular package.

"Thanks," she said. Hermione tore the yellow paper off of a book. The title read _Magical Mystery, A Book of Poems_, in curly silver writing. "Wow! Thanks this is awesome!" she said as she hugged Ron too.

"So Hermi, we've got the day off and since it's your birthday and all we're taking you somewhere," Harry piped up.

"But we're blindfolding you so that you don't know where you're going!" Ron added grinning wickedly.

"No, you guys!" she whined as Ron tied a bandana around her head, "you don't have to blindfold me, please! Oh geez!" Harry ran upstairs and grabbed the Marauder's Map. (A map of Hogwarts and its secret passages, made by Harry's father and friends, and given to Harry by Fred and George.) He rushed back down the stairs and grabbed one of Hermione's hands, and he and Ron dragged Hermione out of the portrait hole and all the way to the third floor. They walked right up to a statue of an old, humped, one-eyed witch. Harry checked the map to make sure no one was in the area, then he tapped the statue of the witch and whispered "_Dissendium!_" The witch's humped back opened into a hole big enough for a person to fit through. Ron and Harry helped Hermione through and hopped through themselves.

"NO!" said Hermione flatly. She knew where this secret passageway ended up. "Hogsmeade?! We can't! What if we get caught? I'm a _prefect_ I'll be in more trouble then you guys!" she cried.

"We won't!" Ron assured her.

"Miss Hermione Granger, we are treating you to a full day of fun in Hogsmeade, including 2 full meals . . ."

"Plus cake at lunch," Ron interrupted.

"Plus cake at lunch, in the 3 Broomsticks! Whether you like it or not! So deal with the small bout of rule bending okay?" Harry finished.

"Rule _bending_? Harry we're snapping these rules in half!"

"No," Ron corrected her. Harry and he had this argument planned because they knew exactly what Hermione was gonna say. "Our permission forms say we're allowed to visit Hogsmeade on weekends."

"On _certain _weekends! It says we can visit on certain weekends!" she retorted.

"Who says this isn't a _certain _weekend? It's your birthday Hermi, we haven't ever celebrated it in 4 years of being friends so lighten up okay?" Ron answered back.

After much more protesting Hermione finally agreed as long as they came back right after lunch.

At 2:00 Harry, Hermione, and Ron had just climbed out of the statue of the witch when Snape walked by. He took no notice of the three of them and kept walking. Harry started away when Snape's startled cry echoed through the corridor. The three of them turned to see him in a heap on the floor in a puddle from a leak in the wall. Ron started to crack up and Hermione stuffed a hand over his mouth to shut him up as they ran off towards Gryffindor tower. 

They clambered back into the common room pink faced and laughing their heads off. "Hey Harry! Quidditch team meeting tonight, in here at 8:30 and what's so funny?" Angelina Johnson asked walking over to the three of them. Harry, Ron, and Hermione told her how they'd just seen Snape slip in a puddle and fall. Within 10 minutes the whole common room knew and was laughing out loud. 

At 8:30 Harry was just climbing through the portrait hole from dinner. Angelina and Katie Bell were already there at a table waiting. Seconds later Fred and George flew through the portrait hole at top speed. They screeched to a stop in front of Angelina, Katie, and Harry. "Okay, we're here! Let's start!" Fred said sounding a bit winded, but ignoring the weird looks from his 3 teammates.

"Alright, we've got two matters to discuss at this meeting. 1st we need a new captain seeing how Wood graduated 2 years ago, and 2nd we need a new Keeper and a new Chaser seeing as how Alicia graduated last year! So any captain nominations?" Angelina said.

Harry thought anyone on the team would make a good captain, but after the way Angelina had just taken charge it was obvious, to him who it should be.

"Angelina, it's you! You're obviously qualified!" Katie stated expressing Harry's thoughts perfectly. Fred, George, and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Really? Well ok! And Harry, you'll be captain next year seeing as how the rest of us are graduating after this year. Sounds good!" Angelina said, positively beaming. "Okay onto #2! We should hold trials as soon as possible. How 'bout Friday night, cuz everyone gets the afternoon off?"

"Can't!" George said smirking, "We're gonna have detention! We left Filch a present in his office!"

"I don't even wanna know! So what about Saturday evening then?" The rest of the team nodded in agreement and the meeting ended.

* * *

The week couldn't have gone fast enough for Harry. He loved everything about Hogwarts ('cept maybe Snape), but his favorite thing by far was quidditch. Quidditch is the sport the whole wizarding world followed. It's played on broomsticks 50 feet in the air. Harry was Seeker on the Gryffindor house team. He had been since his first year. Besides being the youngest house player in a century he had also helped the Gryffindor team to win the Quidditch Cup during his 3rd year.

Tuesday morning at breakfast Angelina announced to the Gryffindor table that she was the new team captain. The table applauded for her as she stood beaming. "Also!" she said, "We have two spots open this year, a chaser and a keeper, and we could use a couple of reserves! So we're holding trials this Saturday evening on the quidditch pitch!" A loud babble spread across the table as she sat down. They were all discussing who they thought would make it, or trying to persuade their friends to go for it.

"So, Ron," Harry started, "Gonna come Saturday?"

"Of course! You know me and my quidditch! How 'bout you Hermi? Reckon you could play quidditch?" Ron asked.

Hermione snorted into her porridge and looked up incredulously. "Are you joking? Heck no! I haven't been flying since that one lesson 1st year! And that was no fun, my rear-end hurt for a week afterward!" Hermione stated. "Besides," she said regaining some of her composure, "we take O.W.L.s this year. I don't have time for quidditch! I have to devote myself to my studies."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Ooh goody!" he said sarcastically, "Something new and different for you!"

* * *

Harry woke up Saturday morning to a clear sunny day, perfect weather conditions for quidditch. Harry dressed quietly and walked down to the common room alone. He didn't want to wake Ron just yet. Harry figured that Ron could use all the sleep he could get. Harry plopped down in an armchair and stared into the fire. He got lost in the flames and his thoughts and didn't even notice when Ginny Weasley sat down beside him. 

"Harry?" she asked cautiously.

"Oh hey Ginny," Harry replied snapping out of his trance.

"You okay? You looked kinda dazed."

"Yeah I'm fine just a bit out of it, I guess."

"D'you wanna go down to breakfast with me?" she asked.

"Sure," Harry responded. They got up and climbed out of the portrait hole. They sat eating breakfast talking about the evening's quidditch trials, Ginny was asking about Ron's chances of making the team. 20 minutes later Ron moseyed down to breakfast half asleep with Hermione following after him.

"Morning," Harry said cheerfully.

"Morning," Hermione replied. Ron just grunted as he scooped some eggs onto his plate.

They finished breakfast in silence. "Well I've still got that essay to so for Snape so I'm gonna go grab my bag and go sit by the lake. Anyone care to join me?" Harry asked as he stood up. No one responded and Harry took that as a no. So he trudged up to Gryffindor tower alone and grabbed his bag.

Harry spent most of the day outside writing his essay and thinking about where Voldemort was at that time. He was just watching some 1st years playing tag across the lake when Ron came running up to him. "Hey," Ron said stopping next to Harry. "We've gotta be at the pitch in like 5 minutes!"

"Oh, is it really that late?" Harry asked. Ron nodded. "Let's go then." Harry got up and walked with Ron over to the quidditch pitch. The last time Harry had been there it had been covered in 20 foot high hedges for the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. The memory of that night came back to Harry suddenly. 

"See ya!" Ron said as he walked over to the other hopefuls. Harry pushed the sad thoughts out of his head, wished Ron luck, and trotted over to where the rest of the team was standing.

"Oh good you're here Harry, now we can start!" Angelina said. "Um why don't we go sit up in like the 4th or 5th row in the stands?"

"K," Fred said. The team climbed into seat and watched as Angelina talked to the people trying out.

"Okay thank you all for your interest in our quidditch team. We unfortunately won't be able to take all of you. We need a Chaser, a Keeper, a reserve Chaser, and a reserve Seeker. Ok? So first can I have your name and the position you're trying out for?"

"Seamus Finnigan, Chaser!" a sandy-haired boy said, his blue eyes flashing nervously.

"Colin Creevy, um, Seeker," Colin smiled up at Harry. Harry groaned. Colin idolized Harry, and it was bad enough having him tag around after him in the hallways, but now there was a chance that quidditch would be Colin-ful too.

"You know we only need a reserve, Harry's our Seeker," Angelina said to Colin.

"I know, I don't care. I wanna be just like Harry!" Colin replied excitedly.

"Okay, moving on," Angelina said surpressing a giggle.

"John Silvers, Keeper," a large 6th year said.

"Ron Weasley, Chaser," Ron smiled up at Harry and his brothers as he answered.

"Kara Allen, Chaser," was a tall redheaded girl who was twisting the sleeves of her robes nervously.

"Meg Barous, Keeper," was a shorter girl with black hair, and was obviously Kara's friend.

"Angelique Brooks, Keeper" was a short blond girl who looked like she wasn't much older than twelve. "Call me Angel though," she added. Harry thought she even kinda looked like an angel. Her blond hair fell in ringlets to her shoulders and she had clear, airy, blue eyes.

"Thomas Becker, Keeper or Seeker," was the last person in the line.

"Okay first let's see if you guys can fly." Angelina said grabbing her broomstick.

The 8 people in line grabbed brooms from a pile and kicked off. Angelina kicked off on her own broomstick. She flew around to pitch in a kind of follow the leader type game. Harry could easily tell who the best flyers were. Ron and Seamus were both really fast, Angelique was quick in her turns, and Thomas was just an all-out good flyer. Colin looked like he was barely staying on his broom.

After the 'follow-the-leader' game they took out the quaffle. Angelina had the people trying out for Chaser try some penalty shots against those trying out for Keeper. Then they preformed some offensive formations trying each one of the Chasers and Keepers in turn. Ron was actually really good. Which, though he'd never admit it, surprised Harry.

By the end of the trials it was obvious who was gonna be on the team. Angelina flew over to where the rest of the team was sitting.

"Um I'm thinking Ron's gonna be the new Chaser and Seamus is the reserve. Any objections there?" Angelina started. The rest of the team shook their heads.

"I think the short blond girl, Angel I think her name is, is our new Keeper. She didn't miss more than 3 shots all evening!" George said. "She's as good as Wood!"

"And that rhymes!" added Katie.

The others nodded in agreement. "Okay then Thomas is the reserve Seeker. Harry you'll have to work with him at a couple of practices, make sure he know what he's doing in case you ever can't play," Angelina finished.

"Okay go announce it to them before they die!" Harry said grinning, he couldn't wait to see the look on Ron's face. Angelina flew back down to the field and stood in front of a line of nervous faces.

"We want to tell you all that you did a great job today. And even if you aren't chosen this year me, Fred, George, and Katie will be graduating at the end of this year so there will be 4 open positions next year. So with that aside, I'd like to announce the new members of the Gryffindor house quidditch team. Our new Keeper is Angel Brooks, our new Chaser is Ron Weasley, and our 2 reserves are Seamus Finnigan and Thomas Becker. Congratulations." Angelina smiled at everyone then walked over and started talking to Katie. Harry rushed over to Ron.

"Congrats man! You were awesome!" Harry said to Ron still smiling.

"Thanks!" Ron replied. He looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. He practically skipped up to the castle with Harry running to catch up.

A/N: Yay! So Ron gets to play quidditch with Harry! How fun! You know what else is fun? Writing reviews! So go on have a ball write one right now! Tank 'oo vewy much!

***StarliteStarbrite***


	7. Meetings

A/N: oke doke well this chapter took me for-ever to get out

A/N: oke doke well this chapter took me for-**ever **to get out! I'm soooooooo sorry! I've been having super duper majorly bad writer's block! And I'm in desperate need of a beta-reader! I must have one! If anyone is willing to be a beta-reader for me I swear to god I would love you forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever (you get the picture)! Well here is the next part and personally I think it's kind of an important chapter so read up!

Harry Potter and the Sunfire Ring

Chapter 7: Meetings

For the next week Ron was ecstatic. He was beaming 24/7 and he always had a spring in his step. Harry thought it was great. He hadn't seen Ron this happy in ages. Hermione was really happy for Ron but she didn't neglect to give him a "now don't forget your studies" lecture, which of course Ron laughed off.

Monday morning Harry, Ron, and Hermione were just coming out of a particularly unnerving DADA class. Bell had just given them a list of statistics about the attacks during Voldemort's last reign. They were heading to lunch all a bit shaken when someone called out to Harry.

He turned and Annette was heading towards them. "Harry! Hold up a second," she called.

"Hey Annette!" Ron said turning too.

"Hi Ron, Hermione. Um Harry. I wanted you to be the 1st person I spoke with. So why don't you come have lunch in my office?"

"Umm, well I really just wanted to go eat in the Hall with everyone else," Harry said.

"Nonsense!" Hermione piped up. "It'll be good for you, Harry, you should go."

"Great! He'll meet you two later!" Annette shooed Ron and Hermione off. "Okay Harry my office is this way."

Annette turned and started off in the opposite direction. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit off Harry's stomach as he reluctantly followed after he.

Ten minutes later Harry was sitting in a green squashy chair in the middle of a circular room. Pictures of smiling people waved down at Harry from their frames on the off-white walls. Harry could only assume they were pictures of Annette and Charlie Weasley perched atop. The door was behind him. Another squashy green chair sat directly across from Harry, Annette was sitting in it staring intently at him. "Harry?" she asked suddenly snapping him back to reality. "How are you?"

Harry looked up at her, "Er . . . I'm fine," he replied uncomfortably. "Um, how are you?"

"I'm peachy!" she replied still staring intently at Harry, like she was trying to read him. "Well I'm positive you don't wanna relive everything for me. So I'm not going to ask you to."

Harry was quite relieved. The last thing he wanted to do was explain to her what had happened at the end of last year. "Not really," he said. 

"So why don't you just ell me how your summer was?"

"Okay well, I was with the Dursleys, they're who I live with over the summer. My aunt was my mum's sister so I got stuck living with them. They're the biggest group of muggles you could ever find," Harry started.

"Sounds like fun!" Annette said sarcastically. "Tell me more about them would you?"

"Sure. Well, my aunt and uncle have a son and he's, well, basically a whale. They all hate magic and everything about it including me."

"I'm sure they don't hate you, Harry!" Annette interrupted.

"Oh believe me they do. They used to make me sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. But now they basically ignore me. So I had a relatively quiet summer. I guess that's really about it," he finished.

"Okay, then you went to the Burrow and spent time there, but you don't need to go over that cuz yeah, I was there!" Annette smiled at Harry and he shifted uncomfortably. Noticing that, Annette's expression changed to serious rather quickly. "Harry, I know this isn't exactly where you want to be, but you know you can trust me, I'm sworn to a confidentiality code!"

Harry looked back at her and tried to smile. "I know," he said, "It's just that I really don't need another person to talk to. I mean I've got Ron and Hermione, they help me with everything. And I've Professor Dumbledore if I ever need advice and . . . stuff." He deliberately left out Sirius. He wasn't sure if Dumbledore had told Annette about Sirius. If he hadn't, Harry mentioning something could cause a problem.

"Okay Harry. I still want to hear if you have a problem." Annette looked a bit disappointed. "Here, eat." She handed Harry a plate of sandwiches.

"Actually I think I'll just go downstairs. They're probably still serving lunch," Harry said standing up.

"Okay then," Annette said and with a flick of her wand the plate vanished. "Have a nice day Harry."

"You too," Harry said as he left the room.

_Well that was great fun_, he thought as he headed down the marble staircase into the entrance hall he walked into the Great Hall and ran into something solid.

"Ow!" squealed a small voice from the floor. "You might want to watch where you are going! It'll be good for you!" the voice said sarcastically.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Harry said straightening his glasses and looking down at the person he'd just run into. Right now all he could see was a mess of blonde curls atop a set of black robes. "I wasn't really expecting anyone to come out yet," he said as he held out his hand to the girl.

She ignored his hand and stood up herself. When she looked up Harry saw that her eyes were a shocking blue. "You're Harry Potter right?" she asked and Harry noticed she didn't even glance at his scar.

"Yeah," Harry replied. Suddenly he recognized her. "You're Angel, from quidditch trials! You did amazing on Saturday," he said.

"Um thanks," she replied, her pale cheeks turning slightly pink. "Um I kind of need to go," she said.

"Oh right," Harry moved out of the doorway. "See you at practice Wednesday!" he said as she stepped past him. He turned back towards the Gryffindor table but stopped suddenly noticing a bracelet on the floor. Angel must have dropped it. Harry picked it up and called after her. "Angel!" he called. "Angel you dropped your bracelet," he called turning it over in his hands. It was a small silver chain with little clouds hung on it like charms. But the clouds seemed to be real. They were churning and moving like clouds in the sky do. 

"Thanks!" Angel said turning up next to Harry once again. "I'd be in so much trouble if I lost that. My parents would kill me!" she said strapping the bracelet back onto her wrist. "Bye Harry!" she called as she ran off towards the library.

Harry hurried over to the Gryffindor table and took a seat next to Neville.

"Hullo Harry!" Neville said cheerily.

"Hi," Harry said to everyone.

"Hey Harry, Hagrid wants us to come and visit him tonight after dinner. For tea of something like that," Hermione said not even looking up from her book.

"Alrighty," Harry replied while helping himself to some potatoes.

* * *

"At 8:00 3 figures could be seen walking across the sloping lawn. A small wooden house seemed to be their destination. When they reached the house the middle figure knocked on the door. When the door opened a few seconds later a huge man stood just inside. He was well over 8 feet tall and had a mess of tangled black hair and beard. He was presumably Hagrid, the gamekeeper. His face split into a large toothy grin at the sight of the 3 students. 'Hullo!' Hagrid said cheerfully.

" 'Hi Hagrid!' the girl said.

" 'Sorry we haven't visited before! I really don't know why we haven't!'

" 'S alright c'mon in!' Hagrid said stepping aside.

"They closed the door behind them so I crept closer for a better vantage point. Because I was transformed they had no idea I was there my Lord. Their conversation turned quickly to their summers. The children droned on about their boring family lives. Finally the Weasley kid asked Hagrid about his summer. Hagrid was hesitant but finally he spoke of a mission Dumbledore had sent him on.

"He set off on the 10th of July, five days before your messenger was sent. He arrived in Horate, Germany, a Giant community. Morgana, the queen giantess, welcomed Hagrid into her community. He struck up the proposal Dumbledore had outlined for him. He extended the hand of friendship to the Giant community saying that the Dark Lord had risen again and would try to sway them to his side. Morgana consulted with the council of elders for the Giant community. For 3 days Hagrid waited there. On the 4th day Morgana told Hagrid his offer had been accepted and they would not resume their fighting with the Dark Lord.

"The children left the house at 10:30.

"Dumbledore's envoy, that Hagrid, is the on that kept Morgana from renewing the contract he mother made with you 20 years ago."

"Yes thank you Wormtail. You've been very informative to me. Go away now."

* * *

9 people sat around a small room. They all seemed anxious like they were waiting for something. A fire glowed in the hearth casting an eerie glow over their faces. Suddenly the soft orange glow turned bright green. Everyone in the room looked expectantly at the fire. A moment later a tall man with long silver hair stepped out of the flames. This man was obviously what the people had been waiting for because the tension in the room lifted a bit. "Thank you all for coming. This meeting of the Order of the Phoenix is now in session. Pans any word from the Dark side?"

"No sir. The Dark Lord is just gathering information at this time."

"Good then I think this is a good time to get our numbers back up."

"I'm confused, sir, what are you talking about?" a plump, brunette woman asked.

"Dolls we need 3 new members. 13 is a magical number. We lost 3 very important people and we need people to continue in their footsteps."

"Doors who have you decided on?" a tall man with black hair asked.

"Ahh, Padfoot. Two of our number, that are no longer with us, bless their souls, had a fine and very powerful son. He and his two best friends are very capable . . ."

"NO, that's my son!" Dolls cried out.

"Shh dear. Please, sir, continue," said a tall man with a few bright red hairs left.

"They are very capable people. And I believe they would be excellent assets to the Order."

"Doors, sir?" asked a short man with Sandy hair and tired blue eyes.

"Yes Moony?" Doors answered him.

"I'm sure H- er I mean Flower and Prongs' son can handle it, especially after last year. But the other two . . . I'm not to sure about them."

"Moony you know damn well he won't do anything without his two best friends and he'd never keep something this big form them." Padfoot answered.

"Dolls, Plugs if you give your permission?" Doors said.

"Yes it's alright. It'll be good for them, I know they can handle it and that they can do it. Plus they're on the winning side!"

"Alright then. Then induction ceremony is to be held in two weeks. I'll talk to our new members. And I'll be in contact with you all," Doors replied. "Meeting adjourned."

A/N: Ok that's chapter 7! I hope you liked it. I basically know where this story is going but I'm totally open to suggestions. I'd love for people to give me more ideas and who knows maybe I'll use yours. Thanks a bunch and I'm not gonna beg but please write a review if you have the time. They really make me feel good about my writing even if they are bad reviews! Thanks a bunch!

~Laura a.k.a. ***StarliteStarbrite***

P.S. It's just a hundred bazillion times easier to sign my author's notes with my real name so that's what I'm gonna do from now on!


	8. Me?!

A/N: Okay I want to apologize right away to any of you that thought the last chapter was confusing

A/N: Okay I want to apologize right away to any of you that thought the last chapter was confusing. The person that was watching Harry, Ron, and Hermione at Hagrid's was Wormtail. I thought I made that obvious but maybe I didn't. And the last meeting was a meeting of the order of the phoenix and if it is as secret as I say it is then I don't think they would use their real names. Can anyone guess who they all were? Ooh pop quiz! Oh well you should be able to figure them out by the end of next chapter (not this one). Ok so for right now here's the next part. Enjoy. 

Harry Potter and the Sunfire Ring

Chapter 8: Me?!

Harry woke early the next Tuesday. He dressed quickly and shook Ron awake. "Oy you lump get up! I'm going to breakfast c'mon," Harry said irritably. It was Tuesday, which meant three hours of Snape and his Slytherins this morning. Harry was not looking forward to it!

"Okay, okay I'm up. Give me a minute and let's go!" Ron replied groggily.

Fifteen minutes later the two of them were scooping scrambled eggs onto their plates. "You nervous about Saturday?" Harry asked Ron. Saturday was the 1st quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw.

"No of course not!" Ron replied with an air of false overconfidence. Just then they were interrupted by Hermione plopping down across the table. 

"Good morning!" Hermione said cheerfully.

"Why are you in such a good mood?" Ron asked through a mouthful of toast. Hermione flicked a bit of toast off of her robes, "Cuz I'm gonna ace this potions test today! My Levitation potion works perfectly!" she replied grinning at the look of horror on Harry's face.

"Shit!" Harry swore getting up. "I'll meet you guys there!" he called.

Harry ran up seven stories to Gryffindor tower. He grabbed his bag and sprinted to the library. He spent the next twenty minutes trying to find and memorize a good Levitation potion. Just as he was shoving the book back on the shelf the bell rang. "Shit!" Harry swore again. He was supposed to be I Potions right now and it'd take him at least ten minutes to get down to the dungeons.

He quickly made his way downstairs and ran into the largest dungeon.

"Good of you to join us Mr. Potter. Let's see you are nine minutes late so I think I'll double that. That's eighteen points from Gryffindor!" Snape snapped.

Harry said nothing. He knew better than to argue with Snape. He walked to the only open table. Ron and Hermione threw him apologetic glances from three rows ahead.

"As I was saying, a good Levitation potion will levitate its drinker approximately 2 meters off the ground and will last for about one half hour. You all should know your recipes by now; you all have 2 hours to brew your potions. You may begin," Snape said greasily.

Just as Harry was taking out his ingredients Draco Malfoy wandered into the room. He was nearly twenty minutes late. Snape looked up from his desk as Malfoy walked by. "You're late Mr. Malfoy," he said.

"Sorry Professor, I slept in."

Snape just stared at him for a moment then said coolly, "Well try not to do it again."

"Yes, sir," Malfoy said with a smirk. Glancing around the classroom, his smirk widened and an evil flicker cast across his eyes. The only open spot was at Harry's table.

"Potter," Malfoy said by way of greeting.

"Malfoy," Harry spat back. This class was going to go downhill. First Snape shows his obvious favoritism, and then he has to spend 3 hours working next to Malfoy.

"So Potter, you've been outta the sky for a year now. Try not to fall off of your broom or anything," Malfoy sneered sarcastically.

"Get stuffed Malfoy," Harry sneered back.

They went on like that for the next two hours, Malfoy making snide comments and Harry telling him to get stuffed, or some form of that. Harry was so put out with Malfoy that he hardly noticed what he was throwing into his cauldron. With ten minutes left to work Harry's potion was a sickly orange when it was supposed to be neon blue. There was no way his potion was gonna levitate him, in fact Harry was a bit frightened of what it was gonna do to him.

"Okay you should have added all of your ingredients by now. It needs to simmer for fifteen minutes before we test them," Snape said suddenly.

Harry cleaned up his work area and started to worry. What if his potion was dangerous? What was gonna happen to him?

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Dumbledore himself walked in. A lot of people in he class looked shocked. They hardly ever saw Dumbledore aside from mealtimes. "Professor?" Snape asked.

"Ah yes, Severus, I need Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore replied. Harry looked relieved, Dumbledore couldn't have had better timing.

"Yes Professor," Snape said scowling as he turned away. "Clean up and go with the headmaster."

Harry excitedly threw out his orange potion and threw his ingredients in his bag. He almost skipped out of the dungeon with Hermione and Ron following him.

"Thank God we got out of there!" Harry said quietly so Dumbledore wouldn't hear him.

"Why? My potion was perfect!" Hermione replied.

"Mine sucked. It was bright orange and I have no idea what it would have done if I drank it!"

"Why was it do bad Harry?" Ron asked. "Did you not find a recipe this morning?"

"Yeah I did but I had Malfoy sitting there hissing insults at me the whole time. I didn't eve notice what I threw in!" Harry said right before running into a very solid something. He stumbled backwards and looked up.

"Careful Mr. Potter!" Dumbledore said smiling while readjusting his glasses. They had stopped right in front of the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Pumpkin Pasty," Dumbledore said to the gargoyle which instantly sprang to life and stepped aside.

The four of them stepped inside and the stone wall slid back into place. They rode up the moving spiral staircase to the big door to Dumbledore's office.

"Hullo Fawkes!" Harry said as they walked in.

"Are you talking to the bird?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"Yeah."

"You're nutters," Ron muttered.

Dumbledore took his seat behind his desk and gestured for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to take seats opposite him. Fawkes immediately flew over to Dumbledore and landed on his shoulder.

Once they sat Dumbledore smiled and spoke, "Now I'm sure none of you know why I have called you here. There's no way you could. Have any of you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix?"

Hermione nodded. "I read it in _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts._ The book just said that it was a You-Know-Who resistance movement."

"That's correct. It's very important and very secret. I am the head of it. And I beg that you don't interrupt me," he said as Ron was opening his mouth as if about to speak. Ron quickly snapped his mouth shut looking embarrassed. 

"The Order of the Phoenix is based around an age old prophecy. A prophecy about a phoenix bringing forth the two greatest wizards ever in existence one good and one evil. There are currently ten members. We need thirteen. During Voldemort's last reign we had thirteen. Two have since died and one has turned to the dark side."

At that he glanced pointedly at Harry. Harry knew exactly what Dumbledore meant. Harry's parents and Peter Pettigrew, the person who betrayed his parents. 

"So now I ask the three of you to join me and nine others in the Order of the Phoenix."

Ron and Hermione just sat dumb-founded staring at Dumbledore and said, "I'll do it." His parents did this, maybe that's why Voldemort had come after them. This was something he felt he had to do.

"I'm in!" Ron said, a smile slowly creeping back onto his face.

"Are you sure you want us, sir? We're not even fully qualified yet!" Hermione said barely above a whisper.

"I'm positive," Dumbledore replied. "In the last four years you three have accomplished more than most people do in their lifetime. In my opinion that makes you perfectly qualified."

That seemed to be enough for Hermione because her face became determined too. "I'll do it."

"That's wonderful! All right, this Saturday you three need to report back here at 9:30 p.m. Tell no one about this. Do you understand? No one must know. Not everyone at this school is trustworthy. Ron, Hermione do you have any questions?"

"Who are the other members?" Ron asked.

"Alas I cannot speak their names aloud for their own safety. You will meet them all on Saturday. If that is it you two may leave, I wish to speak with Harry a moment."

Ron and Hermione shot Harry excited glances before exiting the office.

Dumbledore stared calmly at Harry. Harry' mind raced with questions and thoughts as he stared around the circular room. He'd always loved Dumbledore's office. It was so inviting. Pictures of previous headmasters and headmistresses lined the walls. A small fireplace crackled to the right of Dumbledore's large desk.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked drawing Harry's attention back to himself. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Yeah actually, um were my parents, I mean, they were the two you were talking about right?"

"They were," Dumbledore replied. Harry just sat thinking for a moment. A phoenix bringing forth the two greatest wizards ever. That didn't make sense. Fawkes suddenly ruffled his wings as if reading Harry's mind. Wait what had Dumbledore said at the end of last year? That Harry and Voldemort's wands were connected and had come from "Fawkes?" he asked aloud. "Fawkes is the phoenix from the prophecy?"

"He is," Dumbledore said calmly.

"That means that it's Voldemort an-and me?!" Harry said in shock. "The prophecy is about me?"

"It is," Dumbledore replied.

"But wha-how am I on of the greatest wizards ever?"

"Harry you have powers that you do not yet know you posses. I do not even know what you can do. You have had a difficult life Harry and I'm not going to lie to you, it isn't going to get any easier. You are our only chance. Without you we are lost. The world is lost."

Harry was shocked. This was too much. First Dumbledore wanted him in the Order of the Phoenix, the he finds out he's the reason for it.

"Is this why Voldemort wanted to kill me?" Harry asked carefully.

"It's part of it," Dumbledore replied still calm as ever. "Harry do you remember at the end of your 3rd year when I told you Professor Trelawney had made a total of two real predictions?"

"Yes. The one with Voldemort's return because his servant, Wormtail, escaped was the second. You never told me the first," Harry replied curiously.

"Harry, Voldemort know that he fulfilled half of the phoenix prophecy. He spent years carefully searching for the other so he could destroy them before they became too powerful. When your parents were in their 7th year Professor Trelawney came to work here. She went into the same type of trance during James' final that year. Her prophecy is forever emblazoned in my mind."

"What was it? What did she say?" Harry asked anxiously.

"She said that the phoenix prophecy would be fulfilled by the first child of Lily Evans. James and Lily were seriously dating at the time and were most certainly going to be married. Everyone knew that. Some how Professor Trelawney's prediction leaked out. Presumably Peter told Voldemort because only select people knew. So the Order was formed to keep Lily and James and eventually you safe. We also spent much of our time trying to counter Voldemort. Harry, Voldemort was never after your parents for any reason besides they had captured a few of his deatheaters. He was after you."

Harry let out the breath he had been holding. This was way too much. His parents had died simply because they were his parents. After all these years of wondering he really didn't want to know. How does someone react to that?

"Oh," was all he could manage to say.

"Harry I know this is a lot for you to handle. Go to Gryffindor tower. Get some rest. Think things over. You're excused from afternoon lessons," Dumbledore said kindly.

Harry just nodded a glazed look was across his eyes. He slowly turned and trudged back up towards Gryffindor tower. His mind was about to explode. He was one of the greatest wizards to ever live? How is this possible? Why me? He thought to himself. Why me and my parents? Harry barely even noticed were he was going and soon was standing n front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Hello dear!" she said cheerily.

"Grilled cheese," Harry muttered and the Fat Lady swung open. Harry climbed through to find Ron and Hermione waiting for him.

"What'd he want?" Ron asked as soon as he saw Harry.

"Are you alright?" Hermione questioned after noticing the look on Harry's face.

Harry walked right on by barely acknowledging his friends' presence much less answering their questions. He walked straight up the stairs to his dormitory. Once safely enclosed by the hangings of his four-poster the tears that had been threatening since Dumbledore's office finally spilled over.

A/N: Again. Okay everyone please do not skip this author's note. A very good author and friend to people (I personally don't know him) Prongsy is very very sick so if everyone could please put him in their thoughts and prayers and maybe send him a note in a review of his story I'm sure it could help a little bit.


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